FW: Proposal for 4.2, Ensure that user interfaces are accessible

This is my response to comments by both Loretta and Jason-- I had
mistakenly sent it to Loretta off-list.  So this is my reply to the
message she just forwarded to the list...

John


"Good design is accessible design." 
John Slatin, Ph.D.
Director, Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, f 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/


 



-----Original Message-----
From: John M Slatin 
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:53 am
To: 'lguarino@adobe.com'
Subject: RE: Proposal for 4.2, Ensure that user interfaces are
accessible


Loretta's response to my query about whether role can ever be changed
via the user interface:

<blockquote>
I don't think we ever expect the role to be changed via the user 
interface. 
</blockquote>

But Jason evidently sees this differently.  The quotation below starts
with my query, followed by Jason's response: <blockquote> Would there
ever be a situation in which something 
> could happen at the level of the UI that would result in a change of
> *role* for the element? If so, does that change have to be available 
> programmatically as well?

I would say yes to both.

Suppose part of the u i is replaced in response to a user's action or an
external event. The user agent needs to be able to track this change so
that the correct role information is presented to the user and
appropriate notification can be given. For this purpose, the change does
have to be available programmatically; otherwise we get into the
situation that used to occur with assistive technologies maintaining
off-screen models that weren't always updated when the u i was altered.
</blockquote> In a message I sent a few minutes ago, I proposed a
rewrite of the sentence in question (the last one of proposal 6 in the
4.2 proposal), as follows: <proposed> Content whose role, state, or
value can be changed via the user interface can also be changed
programmatically. </proposed>

Now I'm even less certain that this proposal "solves" the problem.
Seems like the first order of business is to come to agreement on
whether role can b changed at the UI level.

John



"Good design is accessible design."

Dr. John M. Slatin, Director 
Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin 
FAC 248C 
1 University Station G9600 
Austin, TX 78712 
ph 512-495-4288, fax 512-495-4524 
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu 
Web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility 



-----Original Message-----
From: lguarino@adobe.com [mailto:lguarino@adobe.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 6:47 PM
To: John M Slatin
Subject: Re: Proposal for 4.2, Ensure that user interfaces are
accessible


Hmm, I guess my language was not a clear as it should have been! Let 
me try again:

<proposal>
The role, state and value of every element of the web content can be
programmatically determined. If the state or value of an element can be
changed via the user interface, it can also be changed 
programmatically.
</proposal>

Does this make more sense? This is trying to reflect the UAAG 
checkpoints 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3, which has a similar requirement. 

I don't think we ever expect the role to be changed via the user 
interface.

Received on Thursday, 28 April 2005 13:30:04 UTC